Friday, March 16, 2012

Our Call to Evangelization for the Salvation of Souls

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
    
READINGS:
First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

FOCUS: Evangelization simply involves sharing our Christian hope with others. 
FUNCTION: Bring hope to others by sharing with them the good news of the Gospel.

          How many of you have ever met someone who seemed to embody the sentiments of the first reading?  Have you ever felt that way yourself?  The first reading from the Book of Job certainly does NOT give us a very happy vision of human life.  In fact, Job’s estimation of human life in general – and of his own life in particular – give us a quite hopeless and depressing and miserable picture of human existence. 

          Speaking about his own life, he says, “I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.  My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.  Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.”  And to these sentiments, I would like to reply, “Hey, that’s the spirit!  Way to think positively! What an encouraging message!  Ugghh.  Maybe not.  There’s not much hope to be found in Job’s estimation of the quality of life.

          This kind of extreme negativism about life can infect all of us at one point or another.  But for some people, this extremely depressing evaluation of human life is the only way they know how to think.  They approach life from the perspective that they are irrevocably doomed, that life is miserable, that nothing good will ever come their way.  Perhaps you’ve met some people like this.  They’re no fun to be around, that’s for sure.  And what they need most – pardon the terrible metaphor – is a triple espresso of hope!  They need to know that life is worth living, that life has value, and that it’s possible to find good, even in the midst of the darkness.  And this is where we – as Christians – are called to bring the light of Christ into the darkness of people’s lives. 

          Jesus gave us a mission to bring a message of hope to those who have none, to proclaim the Good News to those who are so desperate to hear it, to be a light in the darkness, and to help people know – in the words of the responsorial psalm – that God “heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”  We have been called by Almighty God – through His Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ – to be an evangelizing Church, to be a Church that boldly proclaims the Good News of the Gospel to the people of the world. 

          And sometimes we have done a really terrible job at this.  I know I’ve talked about this before, but we HAVE TO, HAVE TO, HAVE TO get over this false notion that religion is a purely private matter and that our faith shouldn’t be shared with others.  Because that’s the very philosophy that the Devil would have us profess, so that others don’t come to know the Good News of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and darkness and despair.  If we don’t get over that notion that religion is private, then so many people around us will continue to live lives that feel hopeless, depressing, and miserable – as was Job’s experience of life.

          Saint Paul gave us a lot of insights into the task of evangelization in the second reading.  He said, “Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible.  To the weak, I became weak, to win over the weak.  I have become all things to all, to save at least some.”  And about preaching the Gospel, he also said, “…woe to me if I do not preach it!”  We have a tremendous and powerful example of commitment to evangelization in the person and ministry of Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles! 

          He never shrank from sharing the Good News of Christ with those around him, whether it was the members of the Churches he wrote to, or the people of the cities he visited, or even with royal officials and those in authority.  He never shrank from proclaiming the Gospel to anyone, because he knew that the message of the Gospel was meant for everyone and not just a select few!  God’s salvation is open to all people, and Saint Paul wanted everyone – or at least as many people as possible – to be saved by the grace and mercy of our loving God and Father, and of His Anointed One, Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior.

          Unlike Saint Paul, sometimes we “overthink” what it means to evangelize, or we make it out to be something more difficult than it actually is.  Evangelization simply involves sharing our Christian hope with others.  And that’s not so difficult.  It’s actually quite easy.  So how can we evangelize?

          We can share our hope with the people around us who disbelieve in God’s existence, and show them that God has revealed Himself to us through Jesus of Nazareth, God’s beloved Son.  We can share our faith and hope with sick persons, inviting them to see how the Crucified Lord shares in their sufferings and can make their suffering redemptive and life-giving.  We can share our hope with fallen-away Catholics and invite them to come back to Church to embrace both a personal and a communal relationship with God in and through the Church that Jesus established as His Body.  We can share with our family members the hope and the joy that we have because Jesus is in our life and we life by faith in His never-ending love and mercy.  I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Evangelization is not hard.  It’s simply a matter of being willing to share with others the hope that we have as Christians.

          But before we can share our hope and faith with others, we need to truly possess it ourselves.  As the saying goes, “You cannot give what you do not have.” And so we can ask ourselves: are we really living in the world as people of faith?  Is the virtue of hope present in our lives?  Do we love the people around us as Christ has loved us?  Do we really believe that Jesus has conquered the power of sin and death, and that new life is possible in Him?  In order for us to impart faith, hope, and love to others, we must have first received it ourselves.  Only then can we hand it on to those around us, so that they might know the same joy.

          Very soon, we’ll begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where we will ultimately receive the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Lord.  And as we heard in the Gospel – that Jesus went from town to town preaching, curing illnesses and diseases, and casting out demons – let’s allow this Blessed Sacrament that we receive to change us from the inside out, so that we, too, might reach out to others and help them to experience the healing, liberating and saving power of Christ.

 And let’s answer our call to be an evangelizing Church.  There are still many people in the world who share Job’s unfortunate sentiments about life.  To them, life is often harsh and cold, empty and difficult.  And so, following the example of Saint Paul, let’s share with the people of the world around us the Good News of our Christian faith, so that we might all be transformed by the light of God’s heavenly kingdom of peace, joy, justice, and love.                                                         

Jesus vs. the Power of Evil - Jesus Wins!

Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

READINGS:
First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28s

 FOCUS: There is a spiritual war being battled for our souls, but Jesus’ voice brings deliverance.
FUNCTION: Seek to hear Jesus’ voice in prayer, and thus find deliverance from evil. 


          Any kind of discussion about the subject of demons in today’s world is simultaneously fascinating and frightening.  You only need to take a glance at some of Hollywood’s recent cinematic productions to understand that the question of the demonic has captivated the popular, cultural imagination.  All kinds of questions come up: “Is it real, is it fiction?  Could demonic possession ever actually happen?  Is this something I should really be afraid of, or should I just laugh it all off as superstitious nonsense?”  These are good and reasonable questions….and evidence that – as a larger society – we don’t quite know what to do with stories involving demonic influences.  Culturally, I think we’re deeply conflicted about the issue.  Should we write them off as wild and crazy stories or give them credit as true and possible events?

          Some of us here might be asking that question regarding the Gospel story we just heard, namely, Jesus’ confrontation with a demoniac – a person possessed by an unclean spirit.  But before we can better understand what happened in that situation, I think we have to understand what came before it.  Here’s the set-up: “Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.  The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” 

          Jesus did not enter the synagogue in Capernaum acting like other Rabbis, quoting the teachings of previous Rabbis who likewise quoted previous Rabbis, going all the way back to Moses and ultimately to God Himself.  Rather, when Jesus taught, He taught on His own authority – as the only-begotten Son of God – and not like the Rabbis or the scribes, who constantly appealed to others.  It is this authority that the people found so astonishing.  Some might have found it presumptuous for Him to teach on His own authority, but this was the mark of a prophet, of someone who was more than just a Rabbi. 

          The first reading gave us Moses’ prophecy about what God would do in the future for the people of Israel: “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen.”  When Jesus of Nazareth began His public ministry in Israel, He began to look more and more like this prophet that Moses had foretold that God raise up among the people of Israel.  His word had a different quality than the words of the Rabbis, and He Himself was a bit different.  His presence commanded attention, His words commanded respect, and His teachings commanded obedience, as though they came directly from the mouth of God Himself.

          Enter stage left: the man with the unclean spirits.  Suddenly, there was a confrontation of cosmic proportions….a kind of showdown between Jesus of Nazareth and the power of evil.  The man with the unclean spirits cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who You are – the Holy One of God!  But the victor in this confrontation becomes immediately apparent.  Jesus only needs to say, “Quiet!  Come out of Him!” and the duel is over before it even really began.  And then “The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.”  The winner in this battle is abundantly clear: Jesus of Nazareth – 1; unclean spirits – 0.

          Jesus came among us to accomplish this very thing – to root out evil from the heart of humanity, whether in the form of sin in general, or in the form of the evil one’s control.  Jesus was always confronting the power of evil in the course of His ministry; and He continues to do so in our own day.  Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we are in the midst of spiritual warfare – an invisible battle between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. 

          The power of evil – the Devil and his fallen angels, the unclean spirits – wants to capture our souls for all eternity.  But God wants to claim us as His own, so that we might know His amazing love and His saving power.  On a daily basis, we experience the pull between temptation and grace, between darkness and light, and between the power of evil and the power of good. 

          And we need to realize that we’re in this spiritual struggle in order to gain the upper hand and not be overwhelmed by the dark forces of evil.  The Church teaches that the Devil and evil spirits do exist.  They are a part of the created order, ultimately subject to God, but are able to exercise an amount of influence in our lives through our free will.  But when they are confronted by the voice of Jesus of Nazareth – the Son of God – they lose all power and must obey His commands.  And therefore we can find freedom and deliverance through Him, through hearing His voice in the depths of our souls.

          This is why prayer is so important in the spiritual life, because it is through prayer that we are able to hear the voice of the Son of God and find deliverance from the power of evil.  Without prayer – without being connected to God’s grace and mercy – we cannot hope to overcome the dark forces that surround us or find ultimate victory over the evil powers that threaten to overtake us.  We need Jesus; we need to hear His voice.  Only in Him can we win the spiritual war.

          So it’s good to develop a concrete habit of prayer.  You might say a quick prayer before you get out of bed in the morning, asking God to help you meet the challenges of the day.  Praying before meals is also a good practice.  It’s also good to pray and examine your conscience every night.  And we mustn’t forget about praying when we celebrate the sacraments…before, during, and after….especially here at Mass before we receive the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion and when we go to confess our sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation. 

          Some people like to pray when they’re in the car on their way to work or running errands…a good opportunity to get in a Rosary or a Divine Mercy chaplet.  Some people also pray the official prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours, as a way to sanctify the different times and “hours” of the day.  And praying and meditating with Sacred Scripture or the lives of the Saints or another devotional prayer book is always a good practice. 

          What matters most is that we’re praying.  And it doesn’t have to be simply the “traditional” prayers.  We should feel free to pray spontaneously, to speak to God as we would to a friend, to tell Him what we’re thinking and feeling and what matters to us most.  And we shouldn’t always ask for things.  We can praise Him for His goodness or thank Him for the graces we’ve received.  We can adore Him with our hearts and minds and tell Him how sorry we are for the times we’ve offended Him.  The tradition of Christian prayer is actually quite vast.  So we don’t need to get stuck in any one form; we can try out many forms of prayer. 

          That way, if we should ever feel like we’re about to be sucked into the darkness by the power of evil – as the man in the Gospel must have felt – all we need to do is appeal to Jesus through prayer and we will always find deliverance from evil and the strength necessary to win the battle.